Richlands is on a five-game streak of home wins, while West Carteret is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Wildcats will host the Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Richlands 2.1, West Carteret 1.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Richlands' pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-0 win over Croatan. The Wildcats haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.
Not much got past Makenzie Goin, who gave up just a hit and racked up 15 Ks to keep Croatan off the board. Goin has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Richlands' win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Addi Andrews, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, West Carteret got the win against White Oak on Tuesday by a conclusive 9-1. The result was nothing new for the Patriots, who have now won four games by six runs or more so far this season.
Kaelyn Margoupis spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered a run (which was unearned) on four hits and racked up nine Ks.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Addison Pavy, who scored a run while going 1-for-2. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (two). Kyrstyn Braswell was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in two of her four plate appearances.
West Carteret hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as White Oak struck out nine times.
Richlands' victory bumped their record up to 12-4. As for West Carteret, their win bumped their record up to 12-0.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Richlands has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like West Carteret struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 11.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Richlands' way against West Carteret in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as Richlands made off with a 10-0 victory. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
